This invention relates to hand-held receptacles especially for use in containing medical and veterinary liquids, and more particularly, to the means by which the contents thereof are to be discharged.
There are many prior art container structures designed to allow storage, ease of handling and ease of discharge of pourable contents. Among these are containers, for example, having detachable caps over an opening, and closable openings or hinged covers or spouts within the caps through which the container contents may be forced or poured out.
In the medical field, there are a vast number of container structures for the storage and application of medicinal liquids, creams, and the like. Many of these medical liquid containers must be capable of storing sterilized fluids without permitting seepage or the introduction of foreign, non-sterile matter into the container. This is particularly important for the storage of infusion and injection solutions, and for the storage of solutions to be applied to delicate or sensitive regions of the body, for example, to the eye.
Typically, in the medical and veterinary professions it is common practice to employ pre-sterilized vials or bottles having ends adapted for being broken off to allow removal of the contents from a storage area. Examples are containers having a special closure whereby the insertion of a needle of an injection syringe through the closure permits removal of the contents. This allows injection of a sterilized liquid using a sterilized syringe without the sterilized liquid coming into full contact with the atmosphere before administration to the patient.
Other types of containers in widespread use in both of the above-discussed professions are dropper bottles for the topical administration of a sterilized fluid to a specific area of treatment. These dropper bottles are adapted for use either on a small scale, for example, for application to the eye, ear or nose, or on a large scale for application to larger affected areas of skin. Such bottles are usually shaped in the form of a reservoir having a dropper attachment. The dropper is typically shaped as a small open-end tube having a narrow bore through which are released the contents of the container in drops upon squeezing of the reservoir area. Dropper receptacles are also provided in the form of a separate dropper tube adapted for screwing onto the receptacle to also serve the function of closing or sealing the receptacle.
Many medical and veterinary fluids presently in use are suitable for use in different types of treatments. More particularly, it has often been found that some medical fluids which are suitable for the treatment of small areas or regions such as the eye, ear or nose, are also suitable for use in large scale topical treatment of other areas of the skin. Such fluids are often packaged in different types of containers, for example, the fluid for use on a small scale is packaged in dropper bottles, and the fluid for use on a large scale is packaged in screw-capped bottles. It is also often the case that fluid for use in treatment of the same area of the body is contained in different types of receptacles. For example, two different container types for similar use are dropper bottles for aplying drops of fluid to the eye, and screw-capped bottles for using the fluid as an eye wash.
Thus, the prior art includes the disadvantage that numerous different types of containers or receptacles are required, even when only one type of liquid or content is to be stored, depending on the use to which such contents are to be applied.